A refugee centre that helps women and children has made an urgent appeal after all its stock was destroyed in a fire at its warehouse in northern France.

Refugee Women’s Centre (RWC) has lost all of its tents, blankets, clothes, and essential items such as nappies that it needs to support more than 100 displaced families who are living outside in the Calais region.

The organisation, based at a refugee camp in Grande-Synthe on the outskirts of Dunkirk, revealed volunteers discovered the depot had burnt down on Tuesday.

The centre was gutted by fire last January only a few weeks after it was officially opened to provide “the first and only female safe space in the camps” along with emotional support and health advice.

According to a volunteer who visited the site, the fire last year was “a deliberate act” by migrant criminal gangs. It is not clear how the most recent blaze started.

EMERGENCY CALL FOR SUPPORTLast night, the warehouse we operate from in Grande Synthe was burnt down. The entirety of our stock and storage space has been destroyed.This is the storage that ourselves and other local organisations rely on in order to provide basic aid to the roughly 700 women, men and children still sleeping rough around Grande Synthe. We are organising an *emergency callout for funds and material donations* to allow us to replenish enough stock to continue supporting those in the area. This includes tents, clothes, hygiene products and activity materials. As the weather grows colder and police clearances are on the rise, families are in increasing need of these items to provide shelter, warmth and basic hygiene.In the meantime, our strong team of volunteers will continue to be present on the ground every day, endeavouring to maintain consistent levels of support for the resilient women and families we work with.- But still, we'll rise.https://www.gofundme.com/emergency-support-for-rwc

The group posted an image of the burnt stock at its warehouse (Photo: GoFundMe)

Break-ins fuelled by ‘desperation’

The RWC is an all-female team of just six to eight volunteers who have been supporting women and their families for around three years.

Maddie McMahon, a breastfeeding counsellor from Cambridge, was devastated after making a return visit to the centre last year after the fire.

In a blog post she wrote: “The volunteers and some of the refugee women and children stood around in silence. No one knew what to say. We hugged. We cried.

“A deliberate act. Many of these homeless men were breaking into the Woman’s Centre every night, burning anything that wasn’t nailed down in order to stay warm.

“As the weather gets colder and everyone feels a bit more desperate and depressed, alcohol starts creeping into the equation.”

The Women’s Centre was launched last year to provide “the first and only female safe space in the camps in Grande-Synthe” (Photo: Facebook)

The organisation posted on its Facebook page: “The origin of the fire is currently unknown, we are awaiting more information from the authorities. To our knowledge the different fires are not linked.”

Since the fire that destroyed the camp, the Women’s Centre went mobile, using a van, blankets and tarp to create temporary safe spaces in Dunkirk and Calais.

A temporary accommodation centre was set up in a gym opened in winter 2017, providing shelter for 250 displaced people including around 30 women and their families. It then opened two more accommodation centres in the area.

The group says it is “filling a gap in services left by the inaction of Governments and larger NGOs”.

The volunteers offer women emotional support, help and information around feeding babies and young children, and health advice (Photo: Facebook)The group shared a picture of the centre after it was gutted by fire last year (Photo: Facebook)

Its website says: “We coordinate with local organisations so that those displaced have a solid network of support and have their basic needs met. And continue to fight for long term, sustainable responses to the refugee crises in Northern France.

“If people ask us for our opinion, the stance of the Refugee Women’s Centre is that asking for asylum in France is a safer option. That being said, we oppose the violent methods used by French police, who often restrain or force people into being taken away to centres elsewhere in France to ask for asylum.”

How can I help?

The centre says that a £20 donation will buy a warm sleeping bag, £17 buys a tent and £15 buys a pack of 90 nappies. Giving £5 will fund a pair of women’s leggings and £2 a two-pack of dummies.

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